The 2026 NHL trade deadline has come and gone, and the Philadelphia Flyers will be keeping their biggest trade chip in Rasmus Ristolainen for yet another season.
On Friday, with just under 15 minutes to the trade deadline, Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reported that the Flyers will not be trading Ristolainen, 32, as their asking price in a trade was not met.
Advertisement
In previous NHL trade deadline action, other right-shot defensemen like Tyler Myers, Connor Murphy, Timothy Liljegren, John Carlson, David Jiricek, Luke Schenn, Jeff Petry, MacKenzie Weegar, and Nick Blankenburg were all moved for assets, though Ristolainen, who was perceived to be more valuable than most on this list, stayed put.
And, at the time of this writing, the Detroit Red Wings are moving on St. Louis Blues righty Justin Faulk.
Ristolainen comes with a significant injury history, having suffered a season-ending triceps injury in each of the last two seasons.
Report: Flyers Rejected Big Maple Leafs Trade for Rasmus Ristolainen
Report: Flyers Rejected Big Maple Leafs Trade for Rasmus Ristolainen According to a new report, the Philadelphia Flyers received a massive trade offer from the Toronto Maple Leafs for veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. GM Danny Briere and Co. didn’t budge.
Advertisement
Additionally, the hulking Finn has two years remaining on his contract, including this one, at a $5.1 million cap hit, so there is less flexibility for inquiring teams in regards to the future in addition to needing the Flyers to, presumably, retain the maximum 50% of his salary for two seasons.
With Ristolainen remaining in Philadelphia with the Flyers, the team will need to make exceptions if they want Jiricek and Oliver Bonk to see NHL action this year.
Assuming Travis Sanheim remains on the left with Ristolainen, the latter and Jamie Drysdale will occupy two of the three spots on the right side of the defense.
Player development has long been an issue in Philadelphia, and the Flyers are doing themselves no favors by holding onto their veterans for longer than they have to.
Advertisement
Time will tell if Ristolainen is eventually traded, but this NHL trade deadline featured some truly bananas prices for average depth defensemen. The Flyers may have missed out on a big opportunity to help secure their future.
Read the full article here
